List of Announcements (details below):
* VSE in the News
* Photo of the Week
* Sandia National Laboratories: Computing Research Summer Intern
Program (Grad & Undergrad)
* NSF: New Grant Proposal Guide
* MITRE Launches $100K Challenge: Countering Unauthorized Drones
* Funding Opportunity:Mathematical Sciences Innovation Incubator (NSF)
* Funding Opportunity: Next Generation Intelligence Collection &
Analyses (Air Force)
* Funding Opportunity:Improved Networking through Embedded Processing
& Sensing (Air Force)
* ASEE Seeks Panelists for NDSEG Fellowships
--------------------------------------------------------------
*VSE in the News*
Here is a list of news stories about VSE that have been posted:
On the Volgenau website (http://volgenau.gmu.edu)
* CEIE Students Lauren Alger and Lindsey Kellar Selected to Attend the
Naval Academy Science and Engineering Conference (NASEC)
<http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/ceie-students-lauren-alger-and-lindsey-kellar-selected-to-attend-the-naval-academy-science-and-engineering-conference-nasec-?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fvolgenau.gmu.edu%2Fhome%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_HNSOWRmBcc5U%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-3%26p_p_col_count%3D1>__
* Keeping our Heads In the Cloud
<http://volgenau.gmu.edu/home/-/asset_publisher/HNSOWRmBcc5U/content/keeping-our-heads-in-the-cloud?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fvolgenau.gmu.edu%2Fhome%3Fp_p_id=101_INSTANCE_HNSOWRmBcc5U%26p_p_lifecycle=0%26p_p_state=normal%26p_p_mode=view%26p_p_col_id=column-3%25>:
Reposting of an article in the fall issue of /Mason Spirit/
magazine. The piece details the growth of cybersecurity research at
the Volgenau School of Engineering.
If you have suggestions for other stories, please submit them to Martha
Bushong, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>.
--------------------------------------------------------------
*Photo of the Week*
**
Mechanical engineering students and Assistant Professor Colin Reagle
(center) prepare to tour labs in Bull Run Hall on the Science and
Technology Campus. (Photo by Martha Bushong.)
--------------------------------------------------------------
*Sandia National Laboratories: Computing Research Summer Intern Program
(Grad & Undergrad)*
The Center for Computing Research (CCR) at Sandia National Laboratories
seeks multiple students to participate in collaborative research across
a wide range of areas in computer science, applied mathematics, discrete
mathematics, mathematical modeling, computational science and
engineering, computational neuroscience and cognitive science (including
cognitive and experimental psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics).
Possible research areas include advanced computer architectures, systems
software, programming languages and paradigms, networks, informatics and
information sciences, combinatorial mathematics, discrete event
simulation, scalable linear and nonlinear solvers, continuous and
discrete optimization, uncertainty quantification, statistics,
multiscale methods and mathematics, multiphysics modeling,
visualization, visual cognition, meshing, cybersecurity, advanced
modeling and simulation, human decision modeling, machine learning,
brain inspired computing and assessing human performance. Students are
also sought with interests in applying computational methods to
scientific and engineering applications including shock physics,
molecular dynamics, MHD, CFD, electrical systems, MEMS, and climate
science. These student internships are for motivated and enthusiastic
individuals with excellent communication skills and who have the desire
to gain research experience in a highly collaborative research
environment. Successful applicants will be exposed to a wide range of
computational and/or cognitive research at Sandia and will have a strong
project-based research experience working directly with Sandia staff
scientists.
To access the posting, go to http://www.sandia.gov, click on “Careers”
then click on “View All Jobs” and search for the job opening number -
651287 for graduate students and 651289 for undergraduates. Applications
should include a CV and a cover letter describing the area that they
would like to gain research experience.
--------------------------------------------------------------
*NSF: New Grant Proposal Guide*
The National Science Foundation has released a new edition of its Grant
Proposal Guide (GPG):
http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf16001
The guide specifies the requirements for proposals to NSF, and proposals
that do not meet the requirements GPG may be returned without being
reviewed.This has been occurring more frequently in the last few years.
The following is from the announcement of the revision sent by NSF:
“As you start preparing your proposals for the February submission
window (Deadline of Tuesday Feb 16, 2016), please, be aware that the new
Grant Proposal Guide will take effect on Jan 25. Several important
changes will take effect with this new change. I suggest you look over
the overview of all changes listed at the beginning of the document.
One important change I would like to draw your attention to in
particular is section VI.D.2.c — the new requirement for Public Access
to Copyrighted Material. You may want to check with your SRO or legal
office to understand what the implications are with respect to copyright
agreements. Depending on the journals you plan to target for your
publications, you may need to include in your budget the open-access
publication fees, which can be quite high.”
--------------------------------------------------------------
*MITRE Launches $100K Challenge: Countering Unauthorized Drones*
[From an announcement I received from MITRE.]
The MITRE Corporation is offering innovators the chance to solve a
national problem, gain recognition for their work, and win up to
$100,000.Interested?
Every day, more and more commercial operators, government agencies, and
hobbyists find new ways to use small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), or
drones. As the cost of these drones has gone down, the interest has gone
up. As a result, we often see drones in the news and hear about how they
are potentially threatening the safety of aircraft in the national
airspace or landing in unauthorized locations—such as the White House lawn.
The potential for nefarious use of UAS technology has become a major
concern for multiple federal agencies. To draw new ideas from a wide
variety of innovators on how to address the issues, MITRE is hosting a
Challenge. We’re looking for novel ways to detect suspicious small
drones (under 5 lbs.) and interdict those that present a safety or
security threat.
We are looking for a wide range of ideas, from those that are fully
developed and ready to deploy to those that are in early development but
show promise. And we want to hear from a wide range of
participants—including individual entrepreneurs, students, and teams
from small and large companies.
/Two-Phase Challenge/
Phase 1: By February 7, participants must submit white papers describing
their approach to detecting and interdicting unauthorized UAS weighing
less than 5 pounds in an urban environment.
Phase 2: The most promising entries will advance to the second phase, in
which participants will demonstrate their solutions in a live flight
assessment of their systems in a realistic operational environment. This
will take place in early Fall 2016.
/Information Session: /We will be holding a webinar on December 2 to
answer questions from anyone interested in participating in the
Challenge. More details to come!
* If you have questions, please send them to [log in to unmask]
* For guidelines, background information, and an entry form, please
visit http://www.mitre.org/research/mitre-challenge
Sincerely,
Michael Balazs and Jonathan Rotner
Challenge Leads
The MITRE Corporation
--------------------------------------------------------------
*Funding Opportunity:Mathematical Sciences Innovation Incubator (NSF)*
URL: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505044&org=DMS
The ideas, tools, and language of mathematics and statistics play
important roles in every area of science and engineering research
supported by the National Science Foundation, and it is widely
recognized that interactions between the mathematical sciences and other
fields catalyze developments in both.The NSF Division of Mathematical
Sciences wishes to foster the participation of more mathematical
scientists, from every area of mathematics and statistics, in such
important interdisciplinary work.In support of this goal, the
Mathematical Sciences Innovation Incubator (MSII) activity provides
funding to support the involvement of mathematical scientists in
research areas where the mathematical sciences are not yet playing large
roles. …
Areas of national high-priority scientific research in fiscal year 2016
identified by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy include:
* Advanced Manufacturing and Industries of the Future
* Clean Energy
* Earth Observations
* Global Climate Change
* Information Technology Research and Development
* Innovation in Life Sciences, Biology, and Neuroscience
* Research and Development for Informed Policy-Making and Management
The MSII activity will support research projects in these and other
areas of national priority that are managed by NSF programs outside of
DMS and that involve new collaborations among mathematical scientists
and other scientists or engineers in the research.
--------------------------------------------------------------
*Funding Opportunity: Next Generation Intelligence Collection & Analyses
(Air Force)*
Sponsor:Department of the Air Force
Sponsor Number:BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0006
Deadline Date:01-Nov-2016
Program URL :
https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLRRS/BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0006/listing.html
Synopsis: The Air Force Research Laboratory - Information Directorate
(AFRL/RI) is soliciting white papers under this BAA for research,
design, development, test, evaluation and experimentation of innovative
technologies and techniques for Next Generation Intelligence Collection
and Analyses. The objective of the BAA is to develop, demonstrate, and
evaluate new sources and methods for collecting and analyzing
intelligence data. This effort is expected to provide research and
development activities to enhance warfighter mission capabilities and
advance baseline performance beyond what is currently considered
satisfactory. Under the proposed announcement, it is anticipated that
intelligence collection and analysis technologies will be used in
support of Strategic, Operational, and Tactical missions. These should
include, but are not limited to, Signals Intelligence, Measurement &
Signals Intelligence, and Electronic Intelligence techniques. …
--------------------------------------------------------------
*Funding Opportunity:Improved Networking through Embedded Processing &
Sensing (Air Force)*
Sponsor:Department of the Air Force
Sponsor Number:BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0007
Deadline Date:01-Nov-2016
Program URL :
https://www.fbo.gov/spg/USAF/AFMC/AFRLRRS/BAA-AFRL-RIK-2015-0007/listing.html
Synopsis:The Air Force Research Laboratory - Information Directorate
(AFRL/RI) is soliciting white papers under this BAA for research,
design, development, test, evaluation and experimentation of innovative
technologies and techniques for Improved Networking through Embedded
Processing and Sensing.The objective of the BAA is to develop,
demonstrate, and evaluate new sources and methods for improving network
connectivity and stability through embedded processing and sensing. This
effort is expected to provide research and development activities to
enhance warfighter mission capabilities and advance baseline performance
beyond what is currently considered satisfactory. Under the proposed
effort, it is anticipated that improved network connectivity research
and development will be conducted in support of Command & Control (C2)
operations.Efforts under this program are expected to provide the DoD
and mission partners with system network enhancements that provide the
flexibility required to adapt to and operate in contested, congested, or
intermittent environments. …
--------------------------------------------------------------
*ASEE Seeks Panelists for NDSEG Fellowships*
The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in conjunction
with the Department of Defense (DoD) is currently recruiting qualified
candidates to serve on the National Defense Science and Engineering
Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship's digital evaluation panel in early 2016.
Interested parties should have a background in at least one of NDSEG's
15 supported STEM disciplines (please see below for a list of
disciplines). If interested, potential panelists may register at
http://panelists.asee.org.Please visit https://ndseg.asee.org/ for more
information regarding the NDSEG Fellowship Program.
Panelists conduct a thorough evaluation of each assigned application by
completing a rating rubric online for each section of the form. All
applications must be read and rated during the online application
evaluation by the program office's imposed deadline. Each year, the
NDSEG evaluation panelists review and rank an average of 3,000
applications for the graduate fellowship. After the panel, the ranking
results are submitted to the program's sponsor, the DoD, who then
selects the fellowship recipients. 180 awards are anticipated for the
class of 2016.
Panelists are chosen from one of the following supported disciplines:
* Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
* Biosciences
* Chemical Engineering
* Chemistry
* Civil Engineering
* Cognitive, Neural, and Behavioral Sciences
* Computer and Computational Sciences
* Electrical Engineering
* Geosciences
* Materials Science and Engineering
* Mathematics
* Mechanical Engineering
* Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
* Oceanography
* Physics
All non-DoD (and non-government) reviewers will receive an honorarium,
provided they fulfill their application evaluation duties. Based on the
number of reviewers who accept invitations, each reviewer will be
required to read, on average, 20-30 applications.
If you have any questions regarding panelist registration or NDSEG's
promotional materials, please contact the NDSEG Program Office at
[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> or (202) 649-3831.
--
===============================================================
Stephen G. Nash
Senior Associate Dean
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
Nguyen Engineering Building, Room 2500
Mailstop 5C8
Fairfax, VA 22030
[log in to unmask]
Phone: (703) 993-1505
Fax: (703) 993-1633
http://volgenau.gmu.edu/web/volgenau/senior-associate-dean